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In the Game of Thrones wiki it says:

It was supposedly constructed using both magic and mundane means some eight millennia ago, in the aftermath of the Long Night to defend the realm against the White Walkers....

But who called for it to be built? And who exactly built it, and how did they manage to create such a structure?

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    The answer is literally on that page you link to in your question. Search the page (ctrl+f or cmd+f) for built by and it's the only result.
    – Daft
    Apr 9, 2015 at 14:56
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    We're going to built the wall, and the wildlings are going to pay for it! Dec 4, 2017 at 14:49

3 Answers 3

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The construction of the Wall happened during a period known as the Age of Heroes, which was about 8000 years before the events of the current story. All that modern Westerosi know about this period are legends passed down through the ages. Westerosi historians have no idea how valid these legends are.

That being said, the legend goes that the Others (AKA the White Walkers) invaded the realms of men in a dread event known as The Long Night. Eventually, the Others were defeated and pushed back into the northern wastes where they came from. Then a man named Brandon the Builder (who also founded the Stark dynasty) built the Wall to prevent the Others from invading the realms of men again. Legends say that he infused the Wall with magic spells to hold it together and prevent the Others from passing through it. The Night's Watch were founded to man the Wall, and they continued working on it. With each subsequent Lord Commander raising the Wall higher than his predecessor. However, at some point, the Night's Watch became too small to continue that and work on the Wall stopped, leaving it at it's current height of 700 feet.

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  • But how did Brandon the Builder get acquainted with magic?Wasn't that supposed to be just a Targaryen thing acquired by living with the Dragons?So was Brandon related to the Targaryens?
    – user91916
    Nov 5, 2017 at 7:38
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    Magic is practiced by numerous non-dragon related groups: the Red Priests, the Children of the Forest, Faceless Men, the Warlocks of Qarth, Wargs, Others, Maegi, Rhoynish Water mages... There's no need to assume Brandon had any Valyrian connection.
    – Nolimon
    Dec 4, 2017 at 14:59
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The page you linked says:

The Wall was allegedly built by Brandon the Builder after the War for the Dawn to defend against the return of the Others.

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You've asked only about the show, but this is never explicitly stated on in the show. As far as I can tell the shows information on this comes from the books, as such I've answered from a books perspective.

A Song of Ice and Fire

The Wall was built by Brandon the Builder, or so the legends say.

"I could tell you the story about Brandon the Builder," Old Nan said. "That was always your favorite."
Thousands and thousands of years ago, Brandon the Builder had raised Winterfell, and some said the Wall. Bran knew the story, but it had never been his favorite. Maybe one of the other Brandons had liked that story.
A Game of Thrones, Bran IV

The Wall was often said to stand seven hundred feet high, but Jarl had found a place where it was both higher and lower. Before them, the ice rose sheer from out of the trees like some immense cliff, crowned by wind-carved battlements that loomed at least eight hundred feet high, perhaps nine hundred in spots. But that was deceptive, Jon realized as they drew closer. Brandon the Builder had laid his huge foundation blocks along the heights wherever feasible, and hereabouts the hills rose wild and rugged.
A Storm of Swords, Jon IV

The suggestion outraged some of the others. "Do you want the king to wipe our arses for us too?" said Cotter Pyke angrily. "The choice of a Lord Commander belongs to the Sworn Brothers, and to them alone," insisted Ser Denys Mallister. "If they choose wisely they won't be choosing me," moaned Dolorous Edd. Maester Aemon, calm as always, said, "Your Grace, the Night's Watch has been choosing its own leader since Brandon the Builder raised the Wall. Through Jeor Mormont we have had nine hundred and ninety-seven Lords Commander in unbroken succession, each chosen by the men he would lead, a tradition many thousands of years old."
A Storm of Swords, Samwell V

It is said that Brandon seeked the aid of the Children of the Forest to raise the Wall.

Their song and music was said to be as beautiful as they were, but what they sang of is not remembered save in small fragments handed down from ancient days. Maester Childer's Winter's Kings, or the Legends and Lineages of the Starks of Winterfell contains a part of a ballad alleged to tell of the time Brandon the Builder sought the aid of the children while raising the Wall. He was taken to a secret place to meet with them, but could not at first understand their speech, which was described as sounding like the song of stones in a brook, or the wind through leaves, or the rain upon the water. The manner in which Brandon learned to comprehend the speech of the children is a tale in itself, and not worth repeating here. But it seems clear that their speech originated, or drew inspiration from, the sounds they heard every day.
The World of Ice and Fire, Ancient History: The Dawn Age

It was built to keep out the Others and infused with more than just Ice and stone, it contained magic.

"The Wall. The Wall is more than just ice and stone, he said. There are spells woven into it . . . old ones, and strong. He cannot pass beyond the Wall."
A Storm of Swords, Bran IV

"You are wrong. I have dreamed of your Wall, Jon Snow. Great was the lore that raised it, and great the spells locked beneath its ice. We walk beneath one of the hinges of the world." Melisandre gazed up at it, her breath a warm moist cloud in the air. "This is my place as it is yours, and soon enough you may have grave need of me. Do not refuse my friendship, Jon. I have seen you in the storm, hard-pressed, with enemies on every side. You have so many enemies. Shall I tell you their names?"
A Dance with Dragons, Jon I

GRRM has also commented on the fact that Brandon the Builder may just be a legend but leaves it open for interpretation still.

If time is permiting would you mind giving a brief description on how the wall was constructed?
Much of those details are lost in the mists of time and legend. No one can even say for certain if Brandon the Builder ever lived. He is as remote from the time of the novels as Noah and Gilgamesh are from our own time.
But one thing I will say, for what it's worth -- more than ice went into the raising of the Wall. Remember, these are =fantasy= novels.
So Spake Martin, The Wall

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